Collection: Jake Quinlan

Artist cyfoes sy'n byw ac yn gweithio yn Ne Cymru yw Jake Quinlan (g.2002). Mae arfer Quinlan yn troi o amgylch ideoleg ac athroniaeth y feddylfryd anarchaidd dosbarth gweithiol o gerddoriaeth pync, a fynegir trwy ddulliau haniaethol ystumiol.

Nod y gweithiau yw herio pob safon hanesyddol o greadigrwydd gydag awydd parhaus i wrthod cydymffurfio â normau artistig. Mae Jake yn cael ei ysbrydoli gan artistiaid mynegiant haniaethol Americanaidd yr 20fed ganrif megis Abbott, Kline, a Motherwell, ynghyd ag artistiaid amgen fel Auerbach, Bacon, a Fratt.

Yn 2024, dyfarnwyd cymrodoriaeth 2 flynedd i Quinlan gyda 56 Group Wales, grŵp arddangos o artistiaid proffesiynol cyfoes sy’n gweithio ar draws ystod eang o gyfryngau.

“Mae fy ngweithiau yn gwbl haniaethol, wedi’u hadeiladu gyda’r nod o darfu ar gwrs arferion celf gyfoes a dychwelyd y weithred o wneud marciau i reddfau cyntefig dyn ac anifail. Mae fy null wedi datblygu o'r mudiad mynegiant haniaethol, y rhyddid gwneud marciau a welir yng ngwaith y peintwyr gweithredu (action painters) wnaeth fy nenu i ddechrau.

Rwy’n cael fy ysbrydoli gan greulondeb amrwd a phresenoldeb cableddus cerddoriaeth pync Prydeinig, yn enwedig gan yr egni a’r cyflymder sydd wedi’u cyfuno â’r geiriau sydd fel galwadau rhyfel. Rwyf am gario'r gwrthodiad hwn i mewn i'm hymarfer, gan gofleidio'r reddf wyllt o anhrefn a chreulondeb gyda'r defnydd o baent hylif, olrhain a chofnodi cyflymder y gweithredoedd corfforol sy'n rhan o'r weithred o beintio.

Rydw i eisiau cofleidio'r holl eiliadau anrhagweladwy sy'n digwydd trwy gydol y broses o greu: damwain, siawns, lwc, methiant, ac ati. Rwy'n teimlo bod fy mhroses baentio yn dilyn teimladau fy nghenhedlaeth yn union, yn bennaf diffyg rheolaeth a byw trwy a ymdeimlad o fyrfyfyr parhaus i gael dau ben llinyn ynghyd. Mae'r broses greadigol yn y pen draw yn gorffen gyda gadawiad. Mae bron fel pe bai fy lluniau yn sgrechian mewn distawrwydd. Mae pob un o'r nodau egniol, sy'n cynhyrfu â dicter ac ymddygiad ymosodol, rywsut yn eistedd mewn distawrwydd anghyfforddus na allwch chi ei helpu ond cael eich amsugno ganddo.”

Jake Quinlan (b.2002) is a contemporary artist living and working in South Wales. Quinlan’s practise revolves around the ideology and philosophy of the working-class anarchistic mindset of punk music, expressed through the means of gestural abstraction. The works aim to defy all historical standards of creativity with a continuous desire to refuse conformity to artistic norms. The artist credits his inspiration to 20th-century American abstract expressionism artists such as Abbott, Kline, and Motherwell. As well as a selection of alternative artists such as Auerbach, Bacon, and Fratt. In 2024, Quinlan was awarded a 2-year fellowship with 56 Group Wales, an exhibiting group of contemporary professional artists working across a wide range of media and concerns. 

“My works are purely abstract, constructed with the aim of disrupting the course of contemporary art practices and returning the act of mark-making to the primal instincts of man and beast. My painterly language has developed from the abstract expressionism movement, initially drawn to the freedom of the mark-making seen in the action painters. I am inspired by the raw brutality and blasphemous presence of British punk music, especially by the energy and speed combined with the war-cry lyrics.

I want to carry this rejection into my practice, embracing the feral instinct of chaos and brutality with the use of fluid paints, tracking and recording the velocity of the physical actions that go into the act of painting. I want to embrace all of the unpredictable moments that occur throughout the process of creation: accident, chance, luck, failure, etc. I feel like my painting process precisely follows the feelings of my generation, mostly a lack of control and living through a sense of continuous improvisation to make ends meet.

The creative process ultimately ends with abandonment. It is almost as if my paintings are screaming in silence. All of the energetic marks, which riot with anger and aggression, somehow sit in an uncomfortable silence that you cannot help but become absorbed by.”